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A minute's silence for tsunami victims tonight will be broken by
a medley of rock songs, as New Year's Eve organisers scramble to
strike a balance between respecting the dead and fundraising while
allowing Sydney to party.

The Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, will call for a minute's silence
to begin on the stroke of 9pm to mark the Indian Ocean disaster,
while encouraging the crowd to donate to Oxfam's relief fund.

New Year's Eve artistic director, Leo Schofield, said he hoped
Sydneysiders would donate between $5 million and $10 million, with
Oxfam promising to triple its call centre staff to cope with an
expected spike in calls to its 1800 034 034 toll-free number.

Channel Nine is promising to honour the full 60-second tribute,
before the family fireworks are let off a minute later than
normal.

They will explode, on an expected fine, warm night, to the sound
of Jet, Hilary Duff and a plethora of Australian Idol
contestants, including Cosima De Vito's When the War is
Over.

The controversial remixed national anthem will only be heard by
those old enough to stay up for the 17-minute midnight firework
display. Mr Schofield said the theme of the night, reflections, was
an appropriate one.

His producer, Ed Wilkinson, was adamant that while Sydneysiders
should give generously to relief funds, they should also be allowed
to party.

"We don't want this turning into a sort of a funeral of an
evening. We want to encourage people to be able to have a good
night and to realise how lucky they are, and to celebrate that," he
said. "Traditions are incredibly important at times of joy and at
times of sadness."

While they wanted people to donate by phone, organisers expected
to have authorised collectors at entry points for cash donations,
accompanied by police to address security concerns.

Police have also pledged to enforce alcohol-free zones around
the harbour and Sydney's beaches to keep partygoers safe. Assistant
Commissioner Bob Waites said 1500 police would be out across the
city and beaches, including mounted police, bomb squad officers,
sniffer dogs and on 10 boats on the harbour.

GETTING AROUND

Roads: Harbour Bridge closed to vehicles 11.45pm-12.45am;
to pedestrians and cyclists from 6pm. Streets near the harbour in
North Sydney and the CBD progressively closed from noon.